Officer who wrote 80% of pot tickets is back to regular duties

A Seattle police bicycle officer who was reassigned last month after it was learned he had written 80 percent of the tickets for using marijuana in public this year has returned to his regular duties, Seattle police said Monday.

However, police continue to investigate the conduct of Officer Randy Jokela, who in some marijuana citations referred to City Attorney Pete Holmes, a strong advocate of pot legalization, as “Petey Holmes.” In addition, Jokela indicated on one citation that he had used a coin toss to decide who would be cited.

Seattle police spokesman Sgt. Sean Whitcomb said Monday that Pierce Murphy, the director of the department’s Office of Professional Accountability, and Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole “conferred and ultimately decided that there was nothing that precludes this employee from returning to his normal duties.”

O’Toole said Monday that she met with the officer while attending a roll call at the West Precinct. “He was straightforward and apologized,” O’Toole said in a text message.

Seattle police did not name the officer, but he was identified by department sources as Jokela, who joined the department in 1990. The officer wrote 66 of 83 tickets during the first half of the year, O’Toole said in a statement previously posted on the department’s news website.

In some cases, the officer added a notation requesting the attention of “Petey Holmes,” the statement said.

Holmes was a vocal supporter of Initiative 502, which legalized pot in 2012 after the ballot measure was approved by voters.

Tickets for public use of marijuana, which is barred under the law, are filed directly by officers in Seattle Municipal Court, not by Holmes’ office. If a ticket is contested, an infractions attorney from his office becomes involved, according to office spokeswoman Kimberly Mills.

Holmes was a sponsor of a city ordinance passed last year that gave police the authority to write $27 tickets for using pot in public.

Jokela, 52, is assigned as a bicycle officer in the West Precinct, which includes the downtown business district, the Chinatown International District, Queen Anne, South Lake Union and other neighborhoods.

Jokela was named co-officer of the year for the West Precinct in 2005.

In addition to the coin flip, the officer referred on one ticket to the voter-enacted changes in marijuana laws as “silly,” O’Toole’s statement said.

The matter is being investigated by the Office of Professional Accountability, which conducts internal investigations.

A law-enforcement source said Jokela’s return to bicycle patrol was timed to come after last weekend’s Hempfest.